Top S'pore lawyer bags regional legal prize

SENIOR Counsel Davinder Singh was named Disputes Lawyer of the Year for South-east Asia and Indiain inaugural awards by a top law magazine last night.

Mr Singh, 57, the chief executive of Drew & Napier, had under his belt a slew of high-profile cases that cemented his win in the 12-month evaluation period starting in June last year.

This included representing the Brunei Attorney-General in prosecuting a US$2.5 million (S$3.2 million) corruption case there and representing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a defamation suit against blogger Roy Ngerng.

The Asian Lawyer's Emerging Markets Awards also saw the team that Mr Singh led bag the award for Cross Border Litigation of the Year for the Brunei case.

The team beat two other finalists, including an international law firm which, with an Indonesian outfit, jointly represented a Japanese aluminium consortium in a US$1 billion dispute with the Indonesian government.

Organised by US-based ALM, an integrated media firm, and The Asian Lawyer magazine, the awards recognise the top lawyers and firms in the region. The Asian Lawyer is the sister publication of The American Lawyer.

"The choices were not easy... (and) were the result of vigorous debate among top editors and reporters in Hong Kong, New York and London, and included editorial staff at sister publications (such as) The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel..," wrote The Asian Lawyer's Mr Tom Brennan last month when the finalists were first announced.

"After narrowing down a wide field of submissions... we believe we've found a select group... that deserve particular recognition."

Law firms Allen & Gledhill, Rajah & Tann and Lee & Lee were the other Singapore finalists. Mr Singh and Drew & Napier were the only Singapore winners.

Mr Singh said last night: "This award would not have been possible without the efforts of the awesome lawyers in Drew, especially those in my team. I dedicate this to them and to our clients for their wonderful support."